The Dream
by Ace's Shadow Girl
Summary: It had been almost one week since Nami had started acting all crazy. One week of being all ignored, shouted at or being glanced at scornfully. And there was one thing of which he was absolutely sure: He couldn't take it anymore.   Lemons in first chapter.
1. Dreaming

**Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece. I wish I would.

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**Chapter 1: Dreaming**

It was a mild night. The sun had gone down behind the horizon a few hours ago, leaving the Straw-hat Pirates' ship in almost complete darkness. The only sources of light were the moon and the stars, shining brightly in the sky. The empty figure at the railing gazed at them wishfully and let out a sigh. She loved the stars and the tales that were woven around them, but now, she just felt empty, even as she found them looking at her. They looked indifferently, as if trying to mock her in her misery. She felt so inexpressible alone tonight, without someone to talk to. And even if she could have talked to someone, she couldn't have explained how she felt. It had no reason, surely she missed her mother and sister, but that was almost normal.

No, that was not the reason why she stood there, close to crying without even knowing why. It was like darkness pressing upon her with a heavy weight, and she didn't know how to get out of it again. She missed something, she knew that, but didn't know what.

"Nami."

A very familiar voice rang out from behind her, in the shades of the upper deck. She knew that voice all too well, but today there was another nuance in there, one she didn't recognise. It was not the voice he used when he fought or talked to an evil guy who deserved it. And it was clearly not the voice that shouted around on the ship, asking Sanji for food or something else.

"Luffy, it's late. Go to sleep", she said but stayed where she was, not even turning around to face him. She had no stomach for that right now, another stupid question of his or a talk about nothing, this was not how she felt, she felt like wallowing in self-pity but couldn't help herself.

Just as she was thinking this, she felt his presence right behind her. She rolled her eyes and was about to turn and scold him or shoo him away when shivers were sent into her whole body, emanating from a little spot on her neck that had made the acquaintance of his lips.

Yes, his lips. He was really kissing her neck, grazing her skin ever so softly but with maximum effect: she almost fell to the floor as her legs gave in, overwhelmed by those feelings she had never felt before. She gasped as he continued, placing gentle but hot kisses onto the sensitive skin of her neck.

"Lu-Luffy!", she managed to utter, in a complete state of shock but with her senses flourishing and soaking up every touch he gave her. The places where he kissed her burned like fire, she was burning, and even more as he put his arms around her waist and pulled her close, and before she could turn around or say something, she found herself pinned between the low railing and something hard and immovable, something she recognised with a shiver as his body.

"Luffy, wha–" Before she could finish the sentence, she was cut off by him turning her head around, pressing his lips against hers in a passionate kiss. Her eyes opened wide in surprise, seeing his raven strands in front of them and the obligatory straw hat dangling on its string at the back of his neck.

Then, when he let her go, she inhaled sharply. It gave her the feeling of a boundless loss, but she chased that thought away.

"Luffy, what are you doing?", she asked horrified as he let his hands ramble over the exposed skin of her arms. Instead of answering, he turned her around completely and kissed her once more, even more passionate and intense, and let his tongue slid in between her lips, slightly parted in astonishment. She let him do, too surprised and amazed to push him away, and he took the chance to explore her mouth with his tongue, playing with hers and all the while pressing her body against his. Only then did she feel something hard at her thigh, right next to her core, and she opened her eyes at the realisation.

_Oh my God. _

"I want you. Now", he said, his voice strangely low-pitched, when he had finished his exploration tour through the insides of her mouth. Those four words almost let her collapse. It let her burn with flashing desire, and only his firm grip on her and his body against hers could prevent that she sank to the floor. Her hands found their way to his shoulders, grasping them for support, and when she looked him in the eyes, she saw nothing but deep, intense, _raw_ desire, leaving a slight shudder all over her skin.

"But … why?" Her voice trembled as she gave him a wide-eyed look. His hands were everywhere, touching every inch of her, leaving flame traces on their way. It was almost too much for her to take, especially as it all came so suddenly.

He locked his eyes into hers and just said nothing. She couldn't look away, she felt captured in this intense and fiery gaze, and every second she melted a bit more until there was nothing left but desire, pure desire everywhere: in her thoughts, on her skin, in her face, in her wishes. In this moment, she wished nothing more but him taking her on the spot and making the painful need stop.

As if he was able to read her thoughts, he slowly slid up her top while kissing her again. This time, she leaned in to him and kissed him back almost frantically. Her hands clutched the brim of his vest to steady herself as she felt his hands going upwards, grazing the naked skin as they did so, until they reached her bra. She gasped when he put it aside without opening it to touch her breasts, all the time looking her in the eyes. As he cupped her right breast and touched her nipple, she couldn't hold it back anymore. Her back arched, leaning even closer to him and pressing her breast onto his hand, moaning heatedly.

Meanwhile, his other hand had found a way underneath her skirt, too short as always, and brushed over her thigh. She tightened her grip onto his vest, giving a slight moan as he found the edge of her brief, tugging at it to pull it down. She just couldn't believe it, was this really Luffy, her stupid captain who had only meat and games and nonsense on the brain? But she could only stare at him in awe (and also a bit scared) as he continued seducing her, so skilfully and_ knowing_ that she involuntarily wondered about where he got this knowledge from.

Her brief was down now, gathering around her ankles above her high-heeled shoes, and she almost cried in surprise as he replaced the thin fabric with his hand at her most intimate place, smoothly rubbing it against her while his smouldering gaze never left her eyes, opened wide at the scandalous feeling he caused her to sense.

Then, without any prior warning, one single finger slipped into her, making her whole body shake violently, a scream escaping her mouth that was soon dampened by his own mouth covering hers, kissing her fiercely. His finger moved in and out of her while the other hand was still occupied with her nipple, and just as she thought it was more than enough and more than she could ever abide, a second finger attended the first, stretching her with an unbelievably thrilling feeling. She cried into his mouth still on hers. When their lips parted, she pulled him closer and could do nothing to stop her hips from moving against his fingers on their own. Two fingers, and he had her desperate, begging for more, even if she didn't know how much she could take. Desire flew through her veins, replacing her blood with hot, burning fluid that cried for another touch, another thrill of him. He was in her head, he was everywhere, and she couldn't wait to internalise him wholly, take that hard thing in his pants and replace his fingers with it. And as it didn't seem like he would stop teasing her ever so delightfully, she decided with what was left of her brains that she had to take charge of it.

With trembling hands, still moaning and panting heavily, she touched the bulge in his pants and looked up to him. She couldn't see his eyes anymore, but she could easily recognise the almost devilish smirk on his lips. And somehow, it managed to get her even more aroused.

She fumbled clumsily for his zip, breathing choppily, and as she found it she opened it and pulled his pants down. And then she touched him, slowly and careful, waiting for his reaction – which came immediately in form of a low moan. She smiled, still moaning herself, and continued in her work, stroking him from the shaft to the tip, excitedly listening to his breathing getting heavier while still being penetrated by his eager fingers.

Until he decided that it was enough. With a low growl, he withdrew his fingers from her body, licking her wetness off of them with a smirk and her gazing wide-eyed at the show, and then he shoved her hands away from his member. Instead, he took hold of it himself, adjusted it in front of her entrance, and then – catching her gaze with his eyes and not letting go – carried out one sleek thrust with his hips.

She screamed in pleasure as he did so, clutching at his now bare shoulders as his cock invaded her tight hole in one swift movement, stretching her to no end. He withdrew, only to thrust into her once more, this time even more fiercely, and set a pace at which she could not think anymore. She just screamed and moaned in delight variantly, scratching the skin of his shoulders with her fingernails and throwing her head back in pleasant agony, she could not look at him but heard his appreciative moans, and came nearer to her peak with every second, she could feel it, rising in her core oh so deliciously, she could feel it …

"Luffy, oh my God, Luffy …", she screamed over and over again while he took possession of her body, her flesh, her everything, and when he responded by screaming her name in return, she felt even more pleasure flooding over her …

"Nami! Nami! Nami …"

She sat up with a start, disorientated. There was that voice calling her name, the voice she had heard just seconds ago, but now it sounded different. More like …

"Robin!", she groaned, still panting heavily and with sweat covering her whole body.

_Oh my God!_

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**Author's Note:** Cliffy! I love cliffies ;-)


	2. Waking

**Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece *sniff*

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**Chapter 2: Waking**

_Oh my God!_

Nami sat on her bed. She still felt like asleep, pictures of her dream overlapping with reality. She could see Luffy's face, distorted in the pleasure of …

_Oh shut up, shut up!_, Nami screamed in her head, taking her hands up to cover her sweating face.

"Nami?", the voice from outside called again quietly and the person it belonged to knocked at the door to her room. "Are you okay?"

As the girl didn't answer, Robin opened the door ajar, peering in curiously and a bit worried. "Nami-san?", she repeated and entered the navigator's room slowly. She saw her crewmate sitting on her bed, hands in front of her face and being all of a tremble. She also saw the layer of sweat that covered her whole body. Then the girl looked up and slowly withdrew her hands, and Robin was surprised at how red her face was, almost crimson.

"R-Robin", she groaned and shook her head.

The older woman went to her and knelt next to the bed, taking Nami's hands in a comforting gesture. "You've had a bad dream, had you?", she said calmly. "Everything is alright now, you're not dreaming anymore …"

In fact, Nami was torn inside. One side of her was so glad it was over, but the other, darker, stranger side still wanted to be dreaming, with her captain giving her endless pleasures …

"_No!_", she shouted suddenly and wrested her hands from Robin, staring at her in horror.

"Nami-san, everything is …", she began again, only to be interrupted by her own thoughts. She looked at the younger one's crimson face again, then at the sweat, and then she brought one hand in front of her mouth and chuckled.

"This is not funny …", Nami hissed, still torn between dream and reality.

"Oh, I'm sure it is … you've had a sex dream!", Robin said, looking at Nami with a slight smirk on her face. This was not a question but a statement, and Nami knew that. Why did that witch of a woman always know _everything_?

She groaned in embarrassment as she covered her face again. She didn't want to think about those stupid things again, about _him_ doing things to her, and yet she could do nothing against it. His face was etched upon her memory, almost painful. And now it was even worse – Robin knew about it all, she knew about the most embarrassing thing that had ever occurred to her …

Then, the thought that at least Robin didn't know about who it all was came into her mind, and she let out a sigh of relief. Yes, she couldn't know about that, at any rate. This would remain her secret for all times …

"And, was he good?", Robin got her out of her thoughts. "He is the captain and he is quite strong, which means he could be, but he has no experience, at least I think so from how he behaves … Nami-san, what is the matter?", she asked astonished as Nami let out a terrified scream.

Nami stared at her in horror. _JUST HOW DOES SHE KNOW? SHE'S MAKING ME CRAZY!_

"How … how do you know …?", she stammered, her face still crimson and burning hot, with a shrill and strangely high-pitched voice she couldn't recognise as hers.

Robin seemed to understand. "Oh, that was easy. You screamed his name all the time, first I thought you had a nightmare and he … died … or something like that." She chuckled again, amused at the younger woman's face.

"I did … _what_?" Nami couldn't get it. This was the most embarrassing thing in the whole world, ever, and of course it had to happen to her, and of course everybody had to pick up on it, of course everybody on the whole damned ship had to come into her room in just a few seconds, and she would have to face _him_ …

Robin seemed to read her thoughts, as usual. "Don't worry, Nami-san", she said, "it was only me who heard it. You know, my room is next to yours, and as I was awake tonight I could hear you, but not the male part of our crew as their rooms are further away."

That was really comforting now. At least a bit.

"Besides, it was not so loud, but loud enough for me to hear. I was worried …", Robin said and chuckled again.

"THIS IS NOT FUNNY!", Nami yelled at her angrily.

"Shhh, you will wake the others if you yell that loud", Robin pointed out calmly and Nami shut her mouth in less than one second.

"Oh my God, this is so _embarrassing_ …", she groaned and pulled the sheets up to her face.

"Calm down, Nami-san. I think everybody has such dreams now and then", Robin tried to appease her.

"Do _you_ have?", Nami asked, now with a mischievous glare, seeing her chance. But Robin just smiled and said nothing. After a while of staring and smiling, Nami sighed again. "Maybe everybody has them, but not everybody screams out loud …"

Robin mused about that. "Hm, that is true."

Nami sent her an angry glare. "Thank you, that is so very not helpful!"

Robin laughed, then calmed down again. "I won't tell anybody", she assured her. "Try to forget it. Or tell him about it."

"Tell him? Are you crazy?" Nami looked at her incredulously. "He doesn't even know what it is, and besides, I can't look him in the eyes ever again …"

Robin just smiled. "That is up to you, Nami-san. Now try to get a bit of sleep, the sun has not even risen …" And with that, she left the room and quietly shut the door behind her back.

The bewildered and embarrassed navigator tried to sleep, but as she found out that her captain's face haunted her every time she closed her eyes, she abandoned the hope of sleeping ever again. Sighing desperately, she went to her desk and worked on her maps until she heard the first morning screams from the deck. One of them, of course, let her freeze in her tracks. How should she ever look at him again without thinking of … well, _it_?

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**Author's note:** Yes, how should she? I can assure you, I will let her suffer a bit more … muahahahaha^^


	3. Scaring

**Disclaimer:** I do not own one piece of One Piece.

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**Chapter 3: Scaring**

Nami couldn't hide anywhere for longer, not even in her own room. At one time or another she just had to go outside, especially when her stomach growled as loud as that. And surely Sanji would knock at her door soon to call her for breakfast. So, she told herself, why acting all weird and staying in there if she knew she would have to go out sooner or later? Nobody would notice anything if she just went outside and behaved normally. Well, nobody apart from Robin, of course. But she had agreed to not tell anybody, and Nami trusted her.

_Get a grip!_, Nami scolded herself. _Everybody will notice if you tremble and sweat and everything! And then they'll start asking stupid questions, is that what you'd like? So now go and act normal, damn it!_

A word and a blow. Nami stood up from where she sat at her desk, still with her maps. It had been no use to try to work, for all she could focus on was that stupid _(hot)_ dream, and every time she made an attempt to draw even the slightest line, her fingers trembled so violently she almost let go of her pen several times. Her whole figure was shaking, but lack of sleep was the only thing that had absolutely nothing to do with it. There were pictures in her head, pictures from the dream, but also pictures in her mind, created by her own phantasy. Pictures of him and her, kissing, pictures of him just being topless, with his chiselled muscular chest …

_Oh shut up already!_

It made it even worse. The whole time, she had sat there with her face buried in her hands, shaking her head fiercely from time to time. Someone from the outside would have taken her for insane, and she felt like it, too.

She was at the door now, hesitantly touching the brass surface of the knob. It felt smooth and cold in her hand and for the one moment she held it, it was her source of constancy. Then, she turned it, more resolute now, and opened the door. She almost expected seeing her captain in front of the door, waiting for her, but of course this was not the case.

She laughed quietly, slightly embarrassed by her own thoughts. This was weird, he had other things to do than lying in wait for her in front of her door. And how should he even know about it? He didn't even know what it was, not like in the dream where he had seemed to know everything about how to make a female body quiver and shake in endless pleasure …

_Not again!_

She groaned and shook her head. It was just a dream, and a bad one for certain. It hadn't even been realistic, how should he know all that stuff, why should he want her and why should she give in to him? Even if he did things like that, touch her in hidden places with such delight she hadn't even known about …

"Noooo! Now stop that!", she hissed at herself, clenching her fists. Then she looked around to see if there was any danger in form of a straw hat-wearing black-haired boy, but she could only see Brook who stood at the lower deck, enjoying the morning sun and playing another lovely hymn on his violin.

Relieved, she began walking towards the dining room, carefully watching her surroundings for any change. She heard several voices from the men's quarters, some shouting and some giggling (that was definitely Chopper), and then one loud cry emanated from over there: "SANJIII! BREAKFAAAST!"

She could tell for sure who _that_ was. Before he could come out of the room, she decided to run for her life, and when she finally made it to the dining room, she closed the door in a flash and leaned at it, panting heavily and with her heart pounding like mad.

Just then did she look at the table. Robin and Franky were already sitting there, one of them smiling and the other looking bewildered at her. "Good morning, Nami-san, did you sleep well?"

Nami cast Robin a death glare for that. She knew just too fucking well how her sleep had been, thanks for that.

"Yo, Nami", Franky greeted, then turned to Robin and their conversation again, and she nodded at him, too wasted to say anything.

"Robin-chwaaan, I'm almost finished, what do you want to drink?", a voice whistled out of the kitchen, and Robin looked up again. "Some coffee please, if it's not too much trouble."

"I'd take every trouble in the world just to make you pleased, Robin-chwaaan!", Sanji wooed and looked out of the kitchen. Then he saw Nami, and the hearts in his eyes grew even more. "Nami-swaaan! I hope you've had your beauty rest, but not that you'd need it …"

Nami smiled weakly at the cook as she went to her place at the table and sat down. Certainly breakfast wouldn't be such a thing, she could manage that easily, and as long as Luffy wouldn't choose one of the chairs next to her, she would be perfectly fine. But, just to make sure, she sat down next to Robin. One chance less for her bad luck.

As the door flew open, she should have known what to expect now. Nevertheless, his presence hit her like one of Usopp's five-ton hammers, and she could just stare, frozen in her seat.

"Sanji! Meeeaaat!", he exclaimed, showing his trademark grin. He didn't notice how Nami went stiff all of a sudden, but Robin did. She chuckled slightly at the sight. That was going to be very, very funny.

"Meat for breakfast? Are you crazy?", Sanji answered from the kitchen.

So it went on, and when everyone was there and already sitting at the table, Luffy headed towards one of the only two places left – the one next to Nami.

She saw it coming, but as her reactions weren't all great at that time, dulled by her inner conflict still ongoing, she shrieked and almost threw herself on the chair in question when he intended to pull it out and sit on it. "No! Take the other!", she cried out but couldn't even look at him. Pictures flashed up in her mind again, provoked by his presence so close to her.

Luffy looked utterly confused at his navigator, scratching his head. "What? Why? Is it broken?"

"No! Just take the other!", Nami repeated, clutching the chair almost desperately. When he shrugged and went to the other chair opposite her and Nami sat back, sighing in relief, she saw Robin shaking in suppressed laughter. She shot her another death glare, then focused on her empty plate in silence, ignoring the confused looks of the whole crew.

Sanji came out of the kitchen, balancing four generously filled plates in his arms. Two of them were meant for Nami and Robin, and as he put them in front of them together with some fluted compliments about their beauty, a rubber arm immediately shot out, aiming at Nami's plate.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

It was nothing new. To be perfectly honest, it would rather be new if he didn't try it at least once a meal, but yet, Nami flinched back screaming in horror at his hand directly in front of her as she immediately imagined this hand touching her bare skin, making it burn, completely forgetting about the fact that she sat on a chair. And as one thing led to the next, the chair toppled over – with Nami still seated. She fell to the floor with a loud cracking sound as the chair's backrest broke away by the impact.

Everybody stared wide-eyed at the scene. Sanji was the first to regain his composure; one leap and he was at her side. "Nami? Nami, are you okay?", he asked, deeply worried, and tried to lift her up, but Nami shook her head, a panicked look upon her face.

"I'm fine, please sit back, I'm okay", she tried to assure, but with no effect.

"Chopper! Come over here!", Sanji called, and the little reindeer came running over. Then Sanji slowly stood up and turned to Luffy, blood lust in his eyes. "Luffy you shitty captain, WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" And with that he leapt at the poor boy that didn't get anything.

"I'll take you to the infirmary, perhaps you have a brain concussion", Chopper said meanwhile, calmly. Even though Nami stood up by herself, he still insisted on her accompanying him, and finally she gave in and went with him, the disbelieving stares of the rest of the crew (except for Sanji and Luffy who were occupied with fighting slash defending) following her as she did so.

In the infirmary, Chopper gave a closer look at her head, with pupillary reflexes and everything that could indicate a brain concussion. Both of them said nothing, with Chopper too busy to talk and Nami not knowing what to say. Of course her silly behaviour was so not normal, everybody had seen that, and soon they would start asking her questions about it. She would do the same if one of her nakama acted as weird as she did at the moment. But she couldn't explain it to them, no, never, simply because it was too embarrassing to ever be told.

She mused about that when an all too familiar figure appeared in the open door of the infirmary room, and she involuntarily held her breath.

He cleared his throat before entering, and Nami jerked back as he stepped closer, ignoring the thermometer in her ear which almost fell to the ground.

Luffy stopped when he saw her looking wide-eyed at him, with her expression so terrified like he had never seen, not even when she faced an especially evil guy.

"Nami, Sanji forced me to apologise …", he began, but Nami just continued staring at him as if he was the most malicious person in the world.

Chopper looked at Luffy, then at Nami who tried to hide behind the chair she had been seated on only seconds ago, then back to Luffy. He frowned at him. "You scare her. You'd better leave off." For Nami was his patient at the moment, and Chopper couldn't tolerate any person scaring off his patients, even if it was his captain.

Luffy looked at him, then at Nami. He was so very confused, but perhaps she could explain things to him. "Nami, I'm sorry for that food thing, I won't do it again if it scares you …"

She shook her head, still wide-eyed, with pictures in her head and a major shiver running down her spine at hearing his voice. "No! Go away! I can't stand this anymore!", she uttered in panic and finally managed to tear her eyes off of him.

If she had continued looking at him, she would have noticed his expression becoming pained and even hurt. She would have seen his body wincing at her careless words. But as she didn't, she just saw his shadow in the doorway disappearing – and sighed in relief.

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**Author's note:** I didn't know how many people actually read and like this story – I was surprised when I checked my mails. So, would it be bold if I asked you to review please …? Just for me to know that you're out there, reading this one …


	4. Paining

**Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece nor Luffy *sigh*

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**Chapter 4: ****Paining**

After Chopper's treatment (she had no brain concussion or other damages to her body) and after she had assured her crewmates that she was fine, Nami went back to her room. Even if she couldn't concentrate on her maps, they were kind of comforting to her. She sat at her desk, staring at the paper that meant so much to her, but she couldn't even smile. All she could think of was Luffy's face, his voice, his body, his whole presence, and not only the memories from the dream. It was then she began thinking about how it would be, in reality. Would he want her? Would he … no, he wouldn't, he didn't even know about the whole matter. He was too boyish, too much like a child to feel something like want or desire …

_But in the dream he was completely different …_, she thought, but then immediately scolded: _Oh shut up. It was only a dream, a stupid dream! Since when do you allow a dream to leave you so freakin' upset?_

A dream, yes. A stupid dream. And yet she couldn't prevent her thoughts drifting off into strange areas … What was that weird feeling right now? Why did her heart beat so strong that she could feel it vibrating in her whole body, even if he wasn't even here? Why did her stomach ache so oddly? She hadn't eaten a thing, and though it would be only normal, it didn't feel like regular hunger. It felt like … butterflies …

"No!", she whispered to herself when realization struck her like lightning. "No, that can't be … I would have noticed, there would've been _signs_ for that … I never felt like this, never, and such things don't come overnight … or do they?", she muttered lowly, head rested in her palms. "No, this can't be, I can't be … in love with him?"

Then she shook her head as if answering her own question. "No", she said firmly. "No, I'm not, and I'll prove that right now."

She didn't know if she meant to prove it to him, for he didn't even know about her inner conflict, or to herself. Or to Robin. She only knew that she had to prove something, or she would collapse out of being torn that much. She couldn't allow herself to think about it anymore, it would only lead her further on, straight into madness. She did not love her captain, full stop.

When she stepped out of her room onto the upper deck, she deeply inhaled the fresh sea breeze. The waves were calm now, nothing to worry about, at least when it came to the weather. Her extraordinary senses for that would have alerted her if a storm was about to come.

Breathing slowly to calm herself down, she took a look around her. The majority of the crew was on the lower deck; Robin reading a book in a beach chair with a delicious-looking drink on the table next to her, Zoro taking a nap leaned against the mast, Usopp crafting something like ammunition for his slingshot, and Brook, Chopper and Luffy sat on the railing, fishing. Sanji and Franky were nowhere to be seen, but most likely they were in their favourite places: the kitchen and the little workshop in the Sunny's hull.

Nami nodded encouragingly as if to cheer herself up, then stepped down onto the lower deck. Robin smiled at her, looking up from her book, and Usopp also noticed her. He cast a brief, curious glance at her, but then went back to his project.

Nami threw herself into the other beach chair next to Robin's, ostentatiously casual, and smiled back at her as if nothing had ever happened, as if her thoughts weren't whirling around in her mind like completely mad in this very moment.

"Everything alright?", Robin asked quietly, and Nami made a dismissive gesture, still smiling. "Yes, I'm okay Robin, thank you."

Robin nodded and went back to her book. She knew all too well that nothing was okay inside her crewmate, but if she didn't want to tell her, she had to cope with it all by herself.

"Hey Robin, I'm bored! Can you do that hand thing again?", Luffy's voice rang out from the other side of the ship. As he came running over, Brook and Chopper in tow, he noticed Nami in the other beach chair. He looked at her a bit estimating, but as she narrowed her eyes at him in probable anger, he hurried to look away, almost unnoticeable shadows on his face.

"Robin, can you?", he asked again, but this time not as cheerful as before. Nami tried hard to ignore it.

"Yes, okay", Robin sighed, knowing exactly when there was no way out. She put her book aside and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Dos fleur!"

Immediately, two hands popped out of Brook's afro, making him look like Chopper, and Luffy and the small reindeer fell to the floor for laughing so hard. Robin smiled at them while Brook tried to remove the hands, screaming that now he couldn't tell any skull jokes with hands anymore.

Nami looked at the scene and smiled involuntarily. Brook looked so funny with antlers, but the sight that caught her eye even more was that of Luffy rolling on the floor with laughter.

_He's so cute when he's laughing_, she thought spontaneously, then went stiff in her chair. _You must be kidding!_, she screamed in her head when she realised what she had been thinking. She looked at her captain scornfully. No he didn't look cute, he looked embarrassing and ridiculous and silly and goofy and stupid and …

Right at that moment, Luffy looked at her and saw her face. He stopped dead in his tracks, scared and confused by her expression. Then he slowly sat up. "Nami, what's the matter with you?", he asked seriously.

"Nothing!", she screamed in sudden anger. "Nothing's the matter, so stop looking at me, idiot!"

And with that, she stood up abruptly and stamped back to her room with such noise that even Zoro awoke from his sleep, and Sanji peered out of the kitchen. It was equal to her. All she could think of was her own silliness and his stupid face and that sad expression on his face when she yelled at him. This was so crazy she couldn't even say how much.

She slammed the door shut behind her and threw herself at her bed, panting heavily. She lay there for a few seconds, then she took her pillow, buried her face in it and cried out all her anger, all her pain, all her insecurity and all feelings of embarrassment. She cried out all she could think of.

"No I don't love him and no he's not cute …"

She didn't hear the soft plopping sound as an ear appeared at the ceiling above her.

"No I don't, no I don't, he's my captain and nothing more, I'm so stupid so goddamn stupid …"

Outside, Robin sighed about what she heard from the navigator's room. This was not half the fun she had thought it would be.

"Go away, go away, silly face, I can't take it …"

Robin sadly shook her head, then looked at the captain who had retracted to Sunny's head. Chopper and Brook now played tag with Usopp who had finished his ammunition project. Now and then one of them looked at Luffy, but they couldn't explain his behaviour so they just continued playing, hoping he would join them again soon. Zoro crossed his arms, frowning at the scene, then went back to sleep. Sanji came out of the kitchen, looking questioningly, but as nobody explained anything to him, he just shrugged and went back to the kitchen, preparing exotic drinks for his lovely ladies.

"Go away, go away …" Nami's voice was now not even a whisper, barely audible in the silence of her room. She broke off as violent sobs began to shake her body.

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**Author's note:** Thank you all for your very nice reviews, I'm glad you like the story.


	5. Caring and Loving

**Disclaimer:** I … *sniff* … do not own *sniff* One Piece … *sniff*

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**Chapter 5: Caring/Loving**

It had been almost one week since Nami had started acting all crazy. One week of being all ignored, shouted at or being glanced at scornfully. One whole week. And there was one thing of which he was absolutely sure: He couldn't take it anymore. He didn't know why she did that, because despite of once trying to steal her food, he had done nothing wrong.

There had been this moment when they had reached that new island. She had gone off the ship in a flash and not even looked back to make sure that Robin followed her. She hadn't looked at him or the others, and slowly he recognised the feeling inside him: _it hurt like hell. _

One week. He had given her time, exhausting his patience, more time than enough. Perhaps she would explain things to him now, for he felt like he deserved a reward for his unusual endurance. And there was only one possible reward.

It was evening now, exactly seven days after the day she had ended up in the infirmary. She attended the meals but didn't look at anybody, and as time went by, the others got used to it and chattered around like always, ignoring her and not casting her bewildered glances anymore. Even he himself started acting normal again, stealing food and stuff, but he couldn't become accustomed to this strange behaviour of hers. No, definitely not. She was his nakama, his friend, and it seemed like she had a huge problem with him. Not knowing what it was nagged at him more than he showed. Of course it could be solved easily, but after the attempt to winkle it out of her that first day on the lower deck, he didn't dare asking her once more – for fear that she gave him this scornful glance again and hurt him deeply with it. That was the reason he had given her enough time to calm down. Enough time. And today he would settle things once and for all.

Dinnertime. Of course Sanji didn't have to call for him; he was there already, dancing around the cook with Usopp and Chopper in pleasant anticipation. Brook sat in the dining room, laughing at them and drinking tea out of his personal tea cup, and Sanji seemed annoyed as usual.

"Stop that, you idiots!", he muttered around his cigarette. "It's almost ready, go call the others and STOP THAT, you're distracting me!" With his leg dangerously lifted, he shooed them out of the kitchen.

"DINNER'S READY!", they shouted out of the dining room's door. Robin closed her book, Zoro put his weights aside, Franky appeared in the door to the hull, only Nami was nowhere to be seen.

"Nami's not here", Usopp stated nervously. "Perhaps she didn't hear us?"

Luffy shrugged, which caused Usopp to look at him with narrowed eyes.

"I won't go for her, she's scary at the moment", Chopper said and the bare thought made him hide behind Luffy's legs (the wrong way). "Luffy, go take her …"

"No."

The two of them looked at him, incredulous about how firm he sounded. As his hat concealed his eyes, he looked a bit angry with his arms crossed in front of his open vest.

"I'll get her, don't worry", Robin smiled from below. Apparently she had picked up on their little conversation. Now she cast their captain a quick and uninterpretable glance before she went to the women's rooms.

Luffy shrugged again and turned around to sit somewhere at the table. Last week he had done his best to avoid Nami, to sit as far away from her as possible because he felt like she wanted that, but as she didn't seem to approach him so soon, it was all the same to him now. He had taken an indifferent attitude involuntarily. Of course he still wanted to know what was wrong with her, and he still wanted to confront her today, but now he was almost angry at her.

He took a seat and noticed that Chopper sat down next to him and Usopp next to Chopper because of his tendency of stealing food from his neighbours, so the chair on his left remained spare. Zoro came in and sat opposite him, next to Brook, and Franky took Zoro's other side, so there were only three chairs left: one between Brook and Usopp, and two between Franky and himself.

Sanji came in and served their food, then sat down on one of the two chairs left, the one next to Franky.

"Wait for the ladies!", he growled when they wanted to start eating, and everybody groaned in unison. Zoro muttered something under his breath, it sounded like "stupid ero-cook, as if they'd do the same for you", and Sanji snarled at him to stop bad-mouthing his lovely ladies.

Then the door opened, and Robin entered the room, Nami in tow. She had the situation overviewed in less than one second, again casting a quick glance upon Luffy, then she smiled and walked towards the spare seat between Brook and Usopp.

Nami stood in the doorway, and her expression went to 'panic mode' immediately. She sent Robin a pleading look, but the older woman pretended not to notice as she sat down between the skeleton and the sharpshooter.

"Sit down already, we wanna eat!", Zoro growled and looked at her impatiently. Nami took it as a challenge and seemed to quickly snap out of her fear. Not looking at Luffy, she hissed something at Zoro and slumped at the place between Sanji and Luffy (which caused Sanji to compliment her all over). Luffy, on the other hand, made a slight pout and huffed ungraciously, which caused Nami to look at him, bewildered at the sound. As Luffy just remained silent, she huffed in turn and turned away from him.

"Oh, I'm sorry you have to abide my presence today!", he blurted out involuntarily without even looking at her, then clenched his teeth and stared furiously at his filled plate. Nami winced in her seat and dropped her fork halfway to her mouth. Everybody stared at Luffy in shock, everybody but Robin, of course. Robin looked rather thoughtful, but said nothing.

They saw Nami gulping, but to everybody's surprise, she kept silent while Luffy just turned to his plate – and the others', too. He saw her picking up her fork again out of the corner of his eye while Sanji scolded him for being so rude to his precious Nami-swan.

He couldn't care less. Precious or not, she was the one acting all silly, and from now on, he would show her how much. He wouldn't take it anymore, and this evening he was going to ask her. But until that point, he would change the rules of her stupid _Let's-Avoid-Luffy_ game. It was _Luffy-Doesn't-Leave-It-At-That-Anymore_ game now, his game. Even if he felt deep inside that it wasn't just a game, and this thought scared him deeply, for she was precious to him, too.

The whole time during dinner, he could feel her sitting next to him. He could even smell her, a soft scent of tangerines and soap that tickled his nostrils, but he tried to ignore it as well as he could. He even tried to send her waves of anger to let her feel how much her silly behaviour affected him. He wanted her to feel the same, to feel ignored and scolded at … but somehow, he couldn't. He was angry with her, but seeing her so shocked as this made him feel a bit guilty. Were that tears in her eyes, or was it just the light?

_Oh, come on_, he chided at himself while picking a chicken drumstick from Usopp's plate, which almost earned him a fork in the hand. _She's not that innocent this time. _

Save that one moment of losing control by Luffy, dinner went on as usual – meaning Nami being silent, Usopp, Chopper and Brook chattering, Robin smiling and chuckling, Zoro silently munching his food, Franky laughing about Luffy's attempts to steal food (until he came to his own plate) and Sanji variously shouting at Luffy, wooing at Nami and Robin and serving new plates of food. Leave aside Nami's silence, it was almost funny that evening, and Luffy allowed himself to enjoy it, no matter if his neighbour didn't seem to at all. After all, she deserved a little punishment.

After dinner, he agreed with his younger mates and Brook to play hide and seek, giving Nami even more time. But after that, he decided, she wouldn't run from him once more. This time he'd get an answer, a satisfying answer at that.

Chopper won the game, as usual. His delicate scenting ability was almost unbeatable, no matter how fancy Usopp's hiding places were, and only Brook without any respiratory glands had a chance to trick him. Luffy high fived the little reindeer, then went off to look for Nami. He would settle things now, he'd decided that, and he wouldn't allow her any excuses. He wanted an answer.

Robin was reading a book in her beach chair, but as he looked at the chair next to her, he found it empty. Scratching his head, he looked around, as suddenly a hand plopped out of the floor right in front of him. He frowned at it, a bit confused, but as it pointed to a remote corner of the lower deck, he understood.

"Thanks", he mumbled and saw Robin smile into her book. Usopp and Chopper were running around the upper deck now while Brook was in the library composing a new piece of music for his violin. Zoro was nowhere to be seen, but he assumed that he was in the crow's nest/observation room, training. Sanji was still in the kitchen, washing the dishes, and Franky helped him out.

As Luffy went in the direction the finger pointed, he saw Nami standing at the railing in the corner, looking out to the sea with her arms crossed in front of her. He stopped for a second, hesitating, then went on deciding not to call her before he'd reached her – for fear she would escape or something. When he was right behind her, she turned around as if she'd heard or felt something, and as she saw him, she froze on the spot with her eyes going wide and her mouth gaping a bit. This whole horrified expression, he'd seen it before and he was so goddamn sick of it.

"Nami", he said in a low voice and saw something like remembrance in her eyes. He wondered for a split second but decided to disregard it. This wouldn't be easy and he didn't know why exactly he thought that, but he could feel him breaking out in cold sweat. This was Nami, his navigator and his nakama, why did he fear that dialogue? There was nothing to fear about, absolutely nothing, she would tell him her problem and everything was okay.

But he couldn't dismiss the thought that she didn't like him anymore. Why else should she avoid and ignore him for a whole week? And that hurt.

Now she tried to go away, casually saying: "Hey Luffy, sorry but I have to …"

He didn't let her go with that. Instead, he shot out his rubber arms to the railing on her left and right side.

Nami shrieked in panic as she found herself trapped like an animal in a Luffy cage. "Luffy, what …", she began, but he interrupted her as he stepped closer, his arms at a normal length now and their bodies almost touching.

"Nami, I'll ask you again. What is your problem?"

She winced at the harshness in his voice and the closeness, but he had done enough to give her space and he didn't care.

"What is your problem?", he repeated, his eyes shadowed by his straw hat. "What's the matter, why are you acting all crazy, and what is your problem with me?"

As she didn't answer but just stared at him in shock, her back arching to get away from him, he continued. "I let you alone the whole week, but now I want an answer. So tell me. What's your problem, and what have I done to deserve this frightened look on your face every time I'm around? What, Nami, what?"

His voice was getting louder with every word he said, and in the background he noticed Robin standing up and implying to the others to go somewhere else. He thanked her for that silently.

He watched curiously as Nami's face went from 'panic mode' to another … despair.

"What's wrong Nami, tell me and I'll make it right …" The words were out before he could think them over. This was not the angry tirade he'd wanted to give her, but with one look into her eyes, he forgot his whole anger and just wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her tight until it, whatever it was, was over.

She shook her head and, for the first time, looked him straight into the eyes. "Luffy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to … I never meant to hurt you."

He waited a few moments for an explanation, head cocked to the left, until he guessed: "But?"

She smiled now. Sadly yet, but she smiled. "But I did, and I am so sorry for that."

"So why did you?", he asked, confused now.

"I … I just couldn't help it! It was this goddamn dream that started it all over …", she blurted out, then slapped her hand in front of her mouth.

"Dream?", Luffy asked bewildered. "What dream, and what has it to do with me?"

She sighed and shook her head. She knew when it was over. She had to tell him now. It was getting too much. "That dream I had one week ago. It was about you …" She blushed.

"And …?", he asked calmly. This was making him so confused. What had he to do with some stupid dream of hers?

"You and I, we …" She blushed even more. He kept quiet until she continued by herself, glad that she was telling him now. "We did things that people do when …" She took a deep breath. "When they're in love."

"In love?" Luffy jerked back and took his arms with him. What the hell was she talking about? All that because of a dream in which they were in love?

She smiled sadly. "Yes. Those things, you know, it's like kissing, only much more intimate and stuff, and it was so embarrassing I couldn't look at you anymore."

Okay, that was the thing with avoiding him and not looking at him, and he was so glad it was only something as banal as a dream. But that didn't explain why she was so angry at him.

"And why were you so upset about me?", he asked quietly, somehow fearing her answer, but he didn't know why.

Nami took her hands up to cover her face, crimson now. She remained silent for almost a minute, thinking about what to say, while he was getting nervous. What if she just said that he was stupid and a freak and that she couldn't help herself but be angry at him? He was not stupid, even if he had to admit that he acted like that sometimes … okay, most of the time. But he didn't want her to call him stupid or something like that.

She took another deep breath but left her hands where they were. "Luffy, I … I don't know how to say that."

"Then try", he said calmly and withstood the urge to take her into his arms. She looked so fragile now, so small …

She peered out at him from between her fingers. "Umm, I … I think … that dream … made me realise something, and I don't know how to deal with that. I tried to suppress it but I found out that I can't."

"You know you can tell me everything?", he said, completely confused now with his hands dangling useless by his sides, but he instinctive knew that what was about to come was not so easy to cope with.

"I think I … I …" Her fingers in her face writhed as if to try to scratch her skin off. Without thinking about it, he took her wrists and drew her hands away from her face as soft as he could. She stared at him wide-eyed, gasped, and then she let it out.

"I think I love you."

This time it was him who looked wide-eyed at her. Out of all she could have said, this was the most unexpected thing ever. He would have never … never …

His expression went blank as his mind refused to work on.

"Lu-Luffy?", she asked timidly. "Are … are you alright?"

He could only stare at her, completely baffled by her odd confession.

"Luffy!", she said, louder now, and she sounded a bit anxious. He snapped out of his blankness and shook his head fiercely. "What?"

"Are you alright?", she repeated, and he saw tears gathering in her eyes.

"I … dunno." He noticed that he still held her hands. It should be a comforting gesture, but now …

"How do you know that?", he asked out of nowhere.

"Know what?", she asked back and blushed furiously.

"You know what I mean. You said it two minutes ago." He was determined now, at least he felt like it. "How can you be sure?"

Nami shrugged and looked away, more than embarrassed. "I don't know. It's just like that. I know it. You've been in my head the whole time. I couldn't concentrate. I couldn't act normal anymore. And this all made me so confused that I got angry and … I'm sorry, Luffy. I didn't want to drag you into all that. I'll leave you alone now, and please forget about this, I'm sure I can handle it now." With that she turned around and took her hands from him. But she had only made two steps when she heard his voice holding her back.

"Wait."

She stopped abruptly. Puzzled, she turned her head to him and tried to read his face. He seemed sincere and honest and … she couldn't really point it out.

"I don't know much about love. I know I loved – love – my brother, I love Shanks and I love you all because you're my nakama, and perhaps I also love my gramps … in some twisted and strange way. But this kind of love is different, isn't it?", he asked calmly, then looked at her as if he wanted her approval.

She nodded in utter confusion.

He tried hard to not get it out wrong. "I don't know that kind of love because I'd never had it. But if it means that the other person is stuck in your head and you can't concentrate on anything and …", he reflected what she'd said, "not acting normal and feeling all messed up and", he added by himself, "being incredibly sad when the other person is gruff and dismissing to you, then …" He paused for one second. Now he knew how she'd felt …

"… then I think I love you too."

That was the moment her legs gave in, and she fell to the floor. He was at her side immediately. "Are you alright?", he asked worriedly, unaware of the fact that she had asked him exactly the same only minutes ago.

"Yes", she whispered softly, and as she looked up at him, tears streamed down her cheeks and her body trembling all over. "I just … didn't expect that."

He smiled at her and was glad when she smiled back. Then he gave in to the urge he had felt for the whole time and caught her in his arms. He smelled her scent again, stronger now, and inhaled deeply as she put her arms around him, returning his embrace, still shaking. Her tears soaked through the fabric of his vest as she couldn't prevent herself from crying, but it was okay because he knew those weren't bad tears. It was tears of relief and joy. Good tears.

"I want to kiss you …", she whispered in his ear. He winced, but decided to try it. "Okay."

He let her go until he could look her in the eyes, their faces only inches away. He saw her closing her eyes, and as he had never kissed before, he did the same and trusted her to do the right thing.

As their lips met, he went stiff, but not because it was strange. It was indeed a bit odd to him, odd but very … delicious. Her lips tasted like the sweetest thing he'd ever come across.

He decided to like it.

They parted and Nami smiled at him ever so softly. "How was it like?", she asked calmly, but he could hear the suppressed enjoyment from her shivering voice.

"Great", he smiled back. She chuckled and pecked him softly on his lips.

Yeah, it was great. It was wonderful. And it was all his.

"Nami?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you show me what we did in your dream?"

"SHUT UP!"

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**Author's note:** Yes, that was it, almost twice as much as the other chappies! Thank you very much for your reviews, they always cause a warm feeling deep inside of me ;-)

And I hope you liked it! I enjoyed writing angry Luffy. I like Luffy being angry. He's scary when he is.


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